County resolution to address free-roaming horses in Miller Creek
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) The free-roaming horses in Miller Creek may remain in place under an ordinance being considered by the county, though the document would also give private property owners options if the animals are on their land.
Missoula County took its last round of public comment on a draft resolution intended to address the feral herd. Pending a few additional changes, the county is expected to adopt the resolution by the end of August.
Chris Lounsbury, the county's chief administrative officer, said more than 300 public comments, emails and phone calls helped shape the resolution's current language. The comments largely called for coexisting with the horses versus their removal. They also saw requests for signage along county roads noting the horses' presence.
But some comments sought changes that aren't available to the county such as treating the animals as deer or classifying the feral horses as wild horses.
“After the comments, the county updated the resolution to include the addition of signs related to the presence of the horses and added a section on population management and the use of fertility control,” Lounsbury said. “We made what changes we could to the resolution. We clarified the language between estray and abandoned horses.”
The newest draft of the resolution received praise from most members of the public on Thursday, including the Miller Creek Horse Alliance – an upstart group that looks to provide education and outreach related to the animals and assist in their management.
Alliance member Jenny Johnson said the group had intended to seek a 90-day extension before the draft's adoption but now supports the document's language.
“We're pleasantly surprised by the new version of the resolution,” she said. “The new public road safety measures, fertility control and in particular, the coordination with civic and non-profit entities have made our proposed extension request moot.”
Johnson said the alliance still seeks a collaboration between the city and county to enable the respectful coexistence between “the people and the horses that live among us.”
David Aronofsky, a retired attorney, offered a similar take, suggesting the county look to steps taken elsewhere in the country to address the behavior of people around the horses, including hazing, harassing and inappropriate feeding.
“Montana has a statutory mess the county can do nothing about,” he said. “But this (resolution) is a good-faith comprehensive effort to address what the county can do, in my opinion.”
The new resolution does give property owners certain options for the disposition of horses on their and. That includes transferring the animals to an appropriate organization or placing the animals with a private owner, providing the county issues certification assuring the owner can provide for the health and welfare of the animals.
The landowner may also transfer the horses to the Montana Department of Livestock.
“Private property owners, when horses come onto their land, do have rights under Montana law to address that issue,” said Lounsbury. “They're required to work with the Department of Livestock to make sure they're not branded and don't belong to someone prior to that and, at that point, they can work with the Department of Livestock on the removal.”
The free-roaming horses stem from those allegedly turned loose from a long-gone rodeo in the early 1900s. The herd has adapted to the Sapphire Mountains and grassy bench below and numbers between 60 and 100 animals.
Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnick said the county will consider the latest round of public comment as it prepares to adopt the resolution.
“We will take in this comment, incorporate these comments into our resolution, and have a final resolution to vote on,” he said. “We will incorporate to the degree we can the comment we heard today.”